I'm Hating My Wrist Right Now

I don't know what I did to my right wrist, but for over a week now, it's felt like crap every time I flex it. On Friday, we were supposed to work on touch-and-go cleans at the gym (five sets of five, one set every three minutes), but when I attempted to warm up with just an unloaded barbell, my wrist started screaming at me to stop.

Tim suggested that I ditch the barbell cleans and work instead on bottoms-up kettlebell cleans to help rehab my wrist. I kept the weights light -- this was the first time I'd attempted bottoms-up cleans, and the last thing I wanted was to exacerbate my mysterious injury. It was a bummer that I wasn't able to practice touch-and-go barbell cleans, but on the plus side: New skill!

Next up: The metcon.

3 rounds:

• 1 minute max effort calorie row
• 1 minute max effort toes through rings
• 1 minute max effort wall balls (20lbs / 14lbs)
• 1 minute rest

The calorie row and toes through rings weren't a problem. With my right wrist wrapped tightly with a wrist strap, the calorie row and toes-through-rings weren't a problem. Neither required much wrist flexion. I actually had a fantastic time with the toes-through-rings -- I found 'em to be much easier on the hands than toes-to-bars, and it was pretty easy to maintain a good kipping rhythm throughout.

The wall balls, on the other hand, were murder. I plodded along slowly, relying on my left (weaker) arm to toss and catch the medicine ball. Note to self: One-armed wall balls are not a good idea. Each minute yielded fewer than 10 wall ball shots.

Result: 123 as RXed.

I was hoping a weekend of R&R (and a mind-blowing meal) would fix what ails me, but alas: No dice. My wrist isn't any better. When my alarm clock started buzzing at 4:20 a.m., I briefly considered turning over and going back to sleep. But I thought better of it: There would be something I could do at the gym that involves no wrist flexion. And after a sedentary weekend, I was ready to get off my butt again.

The strength skill was front squats. To save my wrists, I did back squats (five sets of three, one set every three minutes) instead. Again, I took it easy, going only up to 185 pounds. I focused instead on maintaining proper form -- in particular, keeping my knees from collapsing inward during my ascent from the bottom.

More good news: The metcon didn't involve a whole lotta wrist action.

For time:

• 10 dumbbell burpees (45lbs / 30lbs)
• Run 240 meters
• 20 dumbbell burpees (45lbs / 30lbs)
• Run 400 meters
• 30 dumbbell burpees (45lbs / 30lbs)
• Run 800 meters

Before the workout, I'd planned to go with the women's RXed weight, but Tim gave me a skeptical look. "Way too light," he said. He was right. I went with a pair of 40 pound dumbbells, but I probably would've done fine with the 45s. In fact, the dumbbell burpees were more fun than I'd anticipated, though my quads were burning by the third round.

Even all that running felt good in the cool, misty darkness.

Result: 13:23.